The Education of Real Estate Salespeople and the Value of the Firm

In order to protect the public, most states require salespeople and brokers to meet specific licensing requirements, typically in the form of classroom instruction and/or successful completion of an examination. Frequently, however, many real estate brokers require their sales staff to undertake education that exceeds these minimum requirements. In this study, we derive a theoretical model that shows how optimally-timed, firm provided education that exceeds legal minimums can increase staff productivity, reduce litigation risks and perhaps raise and/or maximize the expected value of the firm.

The Capitalization of Seller Paid Consessions

Using a hedonic pricing model, we analyze the capitalization of total seller paid discount points and closing costs into the price of a house. We hypothesize that sellers are concerned about the sales price net of total seller paid concessions (SPNC), rather than the exact terms of the transaction. Since the SPNC is easily ascertained in the negotiation process, we further hypothesize that total seller paid concessions (TSPC) are fully capitalized into the sales price. To test this hypothesis, sales price is regressed on a set of control variables including TSPC. In this framework, TSPC will be positive and not significantly different from one if concessions are fully capitalized. The empirical results provide support for the capitalization hypothesis. Negotiation strategies and study limitations follow from the empirical results.

Progenitor cells in auricular cartilage demonstrate cartilage-forming capacity in 3D hydrogel culture

Paramount for the generation of auricular structures of clinically-relevant size is the acquisition of a large number of cells maintaining an elastic cartilage phenotype, which is the key in producing a tissue capable of withstanding forces subjected to the auricle. Current regenerative medicine strategies utilize chondrocytes from various locations or mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). However, the quality of neo-tissues resulting from these cell types is inadequate due to inefficient chondrogenic differentiation and endochondral ossification, respectively. Recently, a subpopulation of stem/progenitor cells has been identified within the auricular cartilage tissue, with similarities to MSCs in terms of proliferative capacity and cell surface biomarkers, but their potential for tissue engineering has not yet been explored. This study compared the in vitro cartilage-forming ability of equine auricular cartilage progenitor cells (AuCPCs), bone marrow-derived MSCs and auricular chondrocytes in gelatin methacryloyl (gelMA)-based hydrogels over a period of 56 d, by assessing their ability to undergo chondrogenic differentiation. Neocartilage formation was assessed through gene expression profiling, compression testing, biochemical composition and histology. Similar to MSCs and chondrocytes, AuCPCs displayed a marked ability to generate cartilaginous matrix, although, under the applied culture conditions, MSCs outperformed both cartilage-derived cell types in terms of matrix production and mechanical properties. AuCPCs demonstrated upregulated mRNA expression of elastin, low expression of collagen type X and similar levels of proteoglycan production and mechanical properties as compared to chondrocytes. These results underscored the AuCPCs' tissue-specific differentiation potential, making them an interesting cell source for the next generation of elastic cartilage tissue-engineered constructs

The Australian Incident Monitoring Study in Intensive Care: AIMS-ICU. The development and evaluation of an incident reporting system in intensive care

Publisher's copy made available with the permission of the publisher © 1996 Australian Society of AnaesthetistsIntensive care units are complex, dynamic patient management environments. Incidents and accidents can be caused by human error, by problems inherent in complex systems, or by a combination of these. Study objectives were to develop and evaluate an incident reporting system. A report form was designed eliciting a description of the incident, contextual information and contributing factors. Staff group sessions using open-ended questions, observations in the workplace and a review of earlier narratives were used to develop the report form. Three intensive care units participated in a two-month evaluation study. Feedback questionnaires were used to assess staff attitudes and understanding, project design and organization. These demonstrated a positive attitude and good understanding by more than 90% participants. Errors in communication, technique, problem recognition and charting were the predisposing factors most commonly chosen in the 128 incidents reported. It was concluded that incident monitoring may be a suitable technique for improving patient safety in intensive care.U. Beckman, L.F. West, G.J. Groombridge, I. Baldwin, G.K. Hart, D.G. Clayton, R.K. Webb, W.B. Runcima

Progenitor cells in auricular cartilage demonstrate promising cartilage regenerative potential in 3D hydrogel culture

The reconstruction of auricular deformities is a very challenging surgical procedure that could benefit from a tissue engineering approach. Nevertheless, a major obstacle is presented by the acquisition of sufficient amounts of autologous cells to create a cartilage construct the size of the human ear. Extensively expanded chondrocytes are unable to retain their phenotype, while bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) show endochondral terminal differentiation by formation of a calcified matrix. The identification of tissue-specific progenitor cells in auricular cartilage, which can be expanded to high numbers without loss of cartilage phenotype, has great prospects for cartilage regeneration of larger constructs. This study investigates the largely unexplored potential of auricular progenitor cells for cartilage tissue engineering in 3D hydrogels

Fabrication and properties of gallium phosphide variable colour displays

The unique properties of single-junction gallium phosphide devices incorporating both red and green radiative recombination centers were investigated in application to the fabrication of monolithic 5 x 7 displays capable of displaying symbolic and alphanumeric information in a multicolor format. A number of potentially suitable material preparation techniques were evaluated in terms of both material properties and device performance. Optimum results were obtained for double liquid-phase-epitaxial process in which an open-tube dipping technique was used for n-layer growth and a sealed tipping procedure for subsequent p-layer growth. It was demonstrated that to prepare devices exhibiting a satisfactory range of dominant wavelengths which can be perceived as distinct emission colors extending from the red through green region of the visible spectrum involves a compromise between the material properties necessary for efficient red emission and those considered optimum for efficient green emission

Comment on "Geoeffectiveness of halo coronal mass ejections" by N. Gopalswamy, S. Yashiro, and S. Akiyama

Comment on paper: Gopalswamy, N., S. Yashiro, and S. Akiyama (2007), Geoeffectiveness of halo coronal mass ejections, J. Geophys. Res., 112, A06112, doi:10.1029/2006JA012149 Gopalswamy et al. [2007] studied the geoeffectiveness of halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the basis of solar observations during 1996-2005 and found that the geoeffectiveness of 229 frontside halo CMEs was 71%. Recently for observations of 305 frontside halo CMEs during 1997-2003 the geoeffectiveness was found to be 40% [Kim et al., 2005]. Complex analysis of both solar and interplanetary measurements showed that the geoeffectiveness of frontside halo CMEs is likely to be about 50% [Yermolaev et al., 2005; Yermolaev and Yermolaev, 2006]. Gopalswamy et al. [2007] did not discuss possible causes of this difference and were limited only to the general words: "The reason for the conflicting results (geoeffectiveness of CMEs ranging from 35% to more than 80%) may be attributed to the different definition of halo CMEs and geoeffectiveness." So, here we shall present our point of view on high geoeffectivenees of CME obtained in paper by Gopalswamy et al. [2007]

The Density Spike in Cosmic-Ray-Modified Shocks: Formation, Evolution, and Instability

We examine the formation and evolution of the density enhancement (density spike) that appears downstream of strong, cosmic-ray-modified shocks. This feature results from temporary overcompression of the flow by the combined cosmic-ray shock precursor/gas subshock. Formation of the density spike is expected whenever shock modification by cosmic-ray pressure increases strongly. That occurence may be anticipated for newly generated strong shocks or for cosmic-ray-modified shocks encountering a region of higher external density, for example. The predicted mass density within the spike increases with the shock Mach number and with shocks more dominated by cosmic-ray pressure. We find this spike to be linearly unstable under a modified Rayleigh-Taylor instability criterion at the early stage of its formation. We confirm this instability numerically using two independent codes based on the two-fluid model for cosmic-ray transport. These two-dimensional simulations show that the instability grows impulsively at early stages and then slows down as the gradients of total pressure and gas density decrease. Observational discovery of this unstable density spike behind shocks, possibly through radio emission enhanced by the amplified magnetic fields would provide evidence for the existence of strongly cosmic-ray modified shock structures.Comment: 26 pages in Latex and 6 figures. Accepted to Ap

Hollow Fiber Bioreactors for In Vivo-like Mammalian Tissue Culture

Tissue culture has been used for over 100 years to study cells and responses ex vivo. The convention of this technique is the growth of anchorage dependent cells on the 2-dimensional surface of tissue culture plastic. More recently, there is a growing body of data demonstrating more in vivo-like behaviors of cells grown in 3-dimensional culture systems. This manuscript describes in detail the set-up and operation of a hollow fiber bioreactor system for the in vivo-like culture of mammalian cells. The hollow fiber bioreactor system delivers media to the cells in a manner akin to the delivery of blood through the capillary networks in vivo. The system is designed to fit onto the shelf of a standard CO2 incubator and is simple enough to be set-up by any competent cell biologist with a good understanding of aseptic technique. The systems utility is demonstrated by culturing the hepatocarcinoma cell line HepG2/C3A for 7 days. Further to this and in line with other published reports on the functionality of cells grown in 3-dimensional culture systems the cells are shown to possess increased albumin production (an important hepatic function) when compared to standard 2-dimensional tissue culture